Pine as a Predator Deterrent for Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) Nests

The Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) experiences high rates of nest predation that contribute to population declines. As a conservation initiative, we tested the effectiveness of pine as a natural predator deterrent for terrapin nests. Pine has been shown to act as a repellent for several species by producing an aversion response. We protected caged and uncaged nests with combinations of locally collected fresh pine branches, pine cones, pine debris, and stones/pavers. We found that no predation occurred at any of the 86 nests that we protected with pine. None of the 21 decoy nests was predated regardless of the protection used. High rates of predation occurred, however, at 92 nests without pine. Although we did not find any evidence of pine consumption by potential predators, the absence of nest predation, especially by raccoon and mink, suggests that pine was a deterrent. The presence of pine did not adversely affect nest productivity, incubation duration, egg development, hatchling morphology or the pH at nest cavity depths. Higher hatchling emergence occurred at nests with pine protection compared to unprotected nests and there was a low percentage (13%) of hatchlings with anomalies.